A Passage to Germany
by Colours Doyle
Summary: Entrapped Jews, they had a look to them. Donny twice had the misfortune to encounter men and women who had been sent to those camps, and just like his Bostonian accent, the look in their eyes was unmistakeable. And so it was for her, that woman that was so beautiful, so mysterious it could have every well made her more dangerous than half the Nazis the Basterds hunted. Donny/OC
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys, this is my first Inglourious Basterds story. I decided to do his after I noticed an awfully minimal amount of Donny stories, so I hope this makes up for that. I hope you enjoy!_

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_In Nazi Occupied Bordeaux, 1943_

"Kapitan nein!"

"So yer a Captain now?" Aldo the Apache eyed the uniformed Nazi that Stiglitz threw in front of him. He was a small man, his uniform and hat nearly swallowed him whole. The man just stared at Aldo with the same silence he'd held since the Basterds raided his unit just outside of town. "Now that makes things more interestin'." Still the soldier said nothing, looking through Aldo as if he were not there. "You speak anglish?" Nothing.

Aldo grunted. "You gonna talk, Captain Kraut, or are you just gonna sit there looking off into outer space?" Again the Nazi captain said nothing. "Well, if you're gonna be that way we might as well get on with it...Donny!" Waving Donny over, he suddenly grew a large smile and staggered quickly over with his slugger resting on his shoulder. "Demonstrate to these young Heinies what happens when they don't cooperate."

Donny's smile became a smirk and his eyes lowered to the man on his knees.

"Any last words, _Captain_?" Donny's fingers drummed around the neck of his bat as he practiced swinging. He chuckled at his own joke and looked down at the captain with the same dark fire consuming him deep within his stomach. As Donny steadied the bat to hit the man's temple he suddenly made eye-contact with him and as he pulled the bat back the man closed his eyes and let out a raspy whisper, "Forgive me."

Donny paused. His mouth closed and he narrowed his eyes.

"What's the problem, Donowitz?" Donny said nothing as he lowered the head of his bat to the man's hat. With a strong fluid push the hat dropped to the ground and a bushel of black locks fell from a spiral around the now obviously feminine face of the Nazi captain.

"What the fuck?" Donny's eyes widened and then suddenly the woman grabbed the head of his bat and rammed it into his nose. Stumbling back Donny grasped his nose as the woman pulled out a large pistol. She rushed over to Aldo and used the bat to bring him into a choke-hold. Every Basterd's gun was suddenly aimed at Aldo and the woman but remained unfired as she used him as a shield.

"WHOA WHOA now!" Aldo called out, standing as still as he could when he felt the hard iron of a gun at his back. "Where were you hidin' that thing?" He asked trying to ease the rapid tension.

"Shut up!" She pushed the gun harder into his back and pulled the hammer back, "Tell your men to lower their guns." She hissed into the man's ear in an accent that was unidentifiable but certainly not German.

"Why should they?" The woman was silent. Aldo chuckled and addressed his men, "Don't worry, she ain't gon' do anything."

She then pulled her gun from behind Aldo and shot a bullet that grazed Donny's leg. She shot off again and hit Sgt. Stiglitz in the foot. He cried out in pain and grunted as he tumbled to the ground.

"Du dumme Fotze!" Stiglitz cried out.

"Kann es deutschen schweine!" She yelled at him and stuck the barrel back to Aldo.

"You're gonna regret that later." Aldo said and she tightened the bat. Aldo gasped, "Okay, all right! Men, lower yer guns."

"Tell them to stay where they are."

"And don't move!"

The woman began to slowly pull Aldo down the walkway until they were out of sight of the Basterds. As she led him through the small town outside of Bordeaux, Aldo warned, "They're going to kill your men, hope ye know that."

"They aren't my men." She said as she led him through the door of a dark, empty market. She rushed him up a flight of narrow stairs and into a small flat. Aldo stumbled to a couch and watched as she shut her curtains after tentatively checking for anyone that might have followed her. She then heaved herself into an arm chair and held her face in her hands. Aldo heard her quietly mumbling to herself. He looked around slowly and began to stand up but stopped at the sound of rustling fabric and the cock of a hammer.

"Girl, where you hidin' them damn things?"

"Sit down." She ordered and he did so slowly. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, muttering. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"Everything all right there?" Aldo asked as if he were addressing a young child instead of his kidnapper.

"No, everything is not 'all right.' Everything would be 'all right' if you shit-heads hadn't arrived in town and ruined my entire plan!"

Aldo eyed her, wondering what a little English girl would possibly want to do with this war. She was quite small and very thin and he wondered how she managed to exert such brute force as he pondered, as well, how strange she looked holding a gun and Donny's bat across her knees. He watched her run her fingers over the names for a few moments.

"Mind fillin' me in on this grand plan that we ruined?" The woman rolled her eyes and sighed looking straight ahead. "Now we ain't doin' this shit again, I've got a right to know why I've just been forcefully taken from my troops, not to mention why you felt the need to shoot one of them in the foot and break another's nose."

"Just stop talking for a second, I need to think." She closed her eyes for a few moment and said quietly, "...I have made a mistake."

"You're damn fuckin' right you did." She stood up and began to pace, swinging the bat around her shoulders.

"I can't let you go now because you'll lead your 'soldiers' back here and you'll scalp me or whatever the fuck you guys do. Fuck—I don't want to have to kill you."

"Hey hey, now, there doesn't need to be any killing involved—from either party." She gave him a look, "You can trust me, I'm a man of my word. God knows I prob'ly shouldn't but you seem like a nice enough gal, just caught up in the wrong situation."

"I wouldn't exactly call it 'caught up.'" She muttered and leaned against the wall watching the door every now and then. After a long silence Aldo looked at her with a cocked eyebrow.

"You waiting for somethin'?"

"No." She shot back. Aldo paused.

"You're waiting for my men to come. Sister, they ain't coming."

"Didn't think they'd actually listen to you. I figured they'd come and rescue their Lieutenant."

"They know I can hold my own."

"Can you?"

"Yes."

She paused, thinking to herself, then mumbling, "...Then leave."

Aldo paused again, watching her. She acted completely serious, holding the bat in her hands gently. Aldo stood and she walked over to the door and opened it for him.

Just as he was nearly out the door she pushed him against the door frame and slammed the door onto his face twice. She pushed him down on the ground and jumped on him. Aldo groaned loudly at the pressure he felt from his head and her tight push on the bat at his neck.

"Shut up. You listen to me; you are not stronger than I am. You may have brute force but I am quick and I am smart and you are neither. Now this is my proposition: I am willing to take you back to your fellow comrades if you and your boys can help me get to Paris and then to Germany by the end of the month. In return I won't give away your whereabouts to the nearest Nazi base." As the woman spoke Aldo eyed something on her right forearm that made his eyes shoot back up to her. She stopped speaking when she noticed Aldo's eyes had seen the numbers on her arm. He didn't need any more confirmation than that. Aldo's view of her softened then when he realized.

"All right, we'll help you out." He said slowly.

Her face was less than a foot from his, "...Thank you."

She jumped off him quickly and pulled her sleeves down to her wrist.

"Let's go." She headed for the door and he followed her out.

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_Please let me know if you like it so far!_


	2. Chapter 2

They were in silence for quite sometime as they walked at a gentle pace. The woman kept a slow pace and hardly breathed as Aldo observed her. She was pretty, but just pretty. Her eyes were dark and Aldo almost hated looking at them. But she was so quiet Aldo had to speak up just out of curiosity.

"What's your name?"

"My name doesn't matter." She spoke softly without looking at him.

"Sure it does. Listen sister, we're in what one would call a very sticky situation and it'd go by a little more smoothly if we knew each other's names—"

"Mara."

"...Very humbled to meet you, Miss Mara." She smiled slightly and shivered. Aldo saw this from the corner of his eye and unbuttoned his coat and pulled it off.

"What are you doing?" She jumped and stopped when he draped it around her shoulders.

"I'm bein' a gentleman. They got any a those back where you come from?"

Mara stood in silence for a moment before nodding, "Yes, but they're all pansy wallowing sodomites or just seeking for a pot to plant their seeds if you know what I mean." Aldo chuckled loudly as he switched Donny's bat from one shoulder to another. He found it amusing that this girl actually let a bit of the air into the moment as they both staggered back through the forest.

"How did you escape?" Aldo asked bluntly.

Mara sighed, hugging the coat tighter around her shoulders. "It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as difficult as you might think."

Aldo nodded, "And your family?"

"All dead," she replied quickly. Aldo closed his eyes and quickly regretted butting into her personal life, but he figured that'd he'd find out eventually and it was better to find out sooner than being unable to trust one another. "How'd you get that scar on your neck?"

Aldo smirked, "Back in Tennessee before I joined the army I was a moonshiner. I don't know if you know what moonshin' is but it can get to be a purty nasty bidness." She nodded, gesturing to him that she understood what it was. "I made some rookie mistakes, ended up making a bad name for myself with a few out-a-state sellers and found myself with a rope around my neck an' a rickety stool 'neath my feet."

"My god..." Mara breathed out, realizing the brutality of it all. Aldo smirked at her though, reassuring her or even just himself that it was in the past and he was over it. He led her then around a large clump of trees and started to speak.

"Should be just around this—" He stopped when he realized there were suddenly six shotguns aimed at them. "Guns down fellas...Someone go give this back to Donny." He tossed the bat to Hirschberg and led Mara through the line of pissed off soldiers. Omar stepped up to Aldo, eying the woman.

"Sir, I wouldn't bring her back over to the fire, Donny and Hugo are still pretty pissed off, especially Donny." Aldo stopped and looked down at Mara.

"I'm pretty sure she can handle them. Did a good number on me a little while ago." He said pointing to the bruising on his temple. Omar nodded, uncertainty and confusion filling him when he noticed the Lieutenant's coat was around her shoulders. But he didn't question it and walked back over to warn the others that Aldo was back. "Just stay quiet, if you stay quiet they'll be intimidated by ye, more than they already are. An—"

"I know how to act around these type of men." She said, but she then put a hand on his arm, "Aldo? Do you think you could not mention..."

Aldo narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding, "It'll be difficult to convince them without that bit of information, but we'll sure try." He then led her toward his men around a small fire.

"What the fuck is she doin' here?" Donny called out standing up and heading towards them, Aldo stood in front of her and held his hand out.

"Now hold your horses, Donowitz. Sit down now, and let me explain." He turned towards Mara, "I think it might be best if you were to stay back a little, just so they ain't too riled up at your presence. I'll have someone come get ya when I'm finished." She rolled her eyes and turned around. Aldo watched her has she walked back for a little ways and sat against a tree.

"Now, ya'll are probably wondrin what the hell's goin' on..." A few of the men nodded and verbally agreed. Aldo the explained the conversation he and Mara had had. Donny and Hugo were reluctant to listen but when Aldo told Donny to go and fetch Mara down the way he was even more reluctant. But he did it any way after Aldo had explained to him and only him that this girl had escaped concentration camp. How Aldo believed her was beyond Donny. Based on Aldo's confidence though he let himself understand then, but still wasn't ready to straight up forgive her for nearly breaking his nose and grazing his leg with a pistol bullet. And Donny just didn't like the sound of having this girl with the Basterds, even if it was for a short period of time.

He found Mara sitting against a tree trunk looking at the ground with a dazed look in her eye. A dark shadow was cast across her features but Donny could still see the deep sockets beneath her eyes and her cheek bones, features that bespoke the starvation and neglect her body had most likely faced.

"Aldo wants you back at the camp sight." Donny said quickly, making Mara jump and she looked at him with a frightened looked in her eye. But only frightened for a slight second before she scowled and walked past him. He followed not far behind her. She scared easy for such a tough gal, he thought.

Aldo sat down with Mara at the fire and spoke to her about his conditions and she told him of hers. All Aldo really wanted to do was help this girl do whatever she wanted, but he wanted to know more details. She said she'd tell him later, a promise actually and Aldo accepted that. Mara was also to help the Basterds with their hunts, she had to be useful or else there was no reason to keep her around.

After their talk Aldo told her she could share his tent and she followed him slowly in, leaving Donny at first watch.

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_ Please let me know what you think!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey readers! I hope you're liking the story so far, or at least a much as I am enjoying writing it! Please do let me know what you think, I'm going to try to update as much as I can. :)_

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Mara slid out of the tent slowly, tired but unable to rest. She sat by the small fire, relishing in the warmth and obviously in deep thought. Donny watched her from a tree not three yards away and wondered what she could be thinking about. He watched her run her hands through her hair and push up the sleeves of her sweater. She looked down at her arm and rubbed lightly over a small part of it, Donny had an idea of what was there.

It was unusual to see a woman like her in the midsts of the war they were in. Donny hadn't seen a woman like her in months, a woman so beautiful but so mysterious it made her possibly more dangerous than the Nazi captain they originally thought she was.

Donny shuffled over to her and she jumped again, only this time she hid it well. He huffed as he sat down near her.

"So you're a limey," he said, trying to bring her from her mind, even if it wasn't the best way to start the conversation.

Mara nodded and then articulated; "British-Jew...I'm not all limey." Donny nodded and said nothing, surprised by her gentle accent. "You're from Boston aren't you?" Donny smiled slightly a confused smile.

"Yeah I am, how'd you know?"

"I visited there not too long ago, the accent is unmistakeable." Mara smiled slightly and toyed with her fingers and Donny wondered why she had been in Boston. But he quickly forgot about it when she started up again. "I apologize for hitting you...and for shooting you." Donny nodded, trying to forget the slight pain he still had in his leg and nose.

He nodded, but did not accept her apology. She didn't expect him to. Mara looked back at her arm and sighed. Donny watched her eyes sadden and he felt himself grow cold despite the fire that was so close to them.

Mara looked up at him suddenly and pulled her sleeves down over her hands. She made a point not to look up at him. Donny sighed, balancing his shotgun across his knees and looking out into the darkness that surrounded them, the trees that seemed comforting but he knew that at any moment there could be a group of Nazi's right behind them. He looked at Mara again even though she did not look back. It was then, though he did not know why, that he finally felt like he trusted her and her story.

Entrapped Jews, they had a look to them. Donny twice had the misfortune to encounter men and women who had been sent to those camps, and just like his Bostonian accent, the look in their eyes was unmistakeable.

"Can I see it?" He blurted out, forgetting himself completely and Mara clinched her jaw and was completely silent for several moments. But then she rolled her sleeve up slowly and displayed the seven numbers on her forearm. 0389421.

Donny's breath caught in his throat and he felt a sudden mix of anger and sadness and helplessness simultaneously as he imagined Mara having to go through each and every one of those horror stories he's heard. He rubbed his hands over his chin and through his hair, feeling chills erupt through his whole body. Donny's fingers traced over the inked scars and had the uncontrollable urge to brutally murder every Nazi that had anything to do with her entrapment.

"How long has it been?" He managed to choke out.

"Since I escaped or when they took me in?"

"Since you escaped."

She was silent for a moment, counting the days in her head. "...About five weeks."

Mara hadn't talked to anyone about what had happened to her in the camp and she felt it terribly difficult to do so, but it also felt comforting to release some of the emotion she'd coveted and built up.

"How long were you there?" Donny asked, curiosity taking hold of his words but he noticed Mara seemed to be more at ease with him.

"I was there for six months. It may not seem like a long time, but most do not make it past the second."

"I've heard stories...awful stories of the shit those fucks do. I almost don't want to believe it...it makes me sick."

"I suppose that is why you are here. It is why I am here, it is why I will be here until the entire Third Reich is extinct, murdered for their merciless and demented crimes." Donny smiled at her. She was like him; a believer, an enforcer. "Donny?" She asked, almost uncertain if that was his name. But he nodded her on, "Do you keep count of the Nazis you've killed?"

Donny chuckled, "No, m'am, that'd be a number too high for me to remember." She huffed in amusement. Humble, she thought, he was slightly humble. "I do, however, keep these..." He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his coat and pulled the strings out by his thumb, "...for the best kills."

Mara looked at them, the pieces of metal glinting silver orange from the fire's light, "Nazi dog-tags..." She grabbed a few of them and ran her fingers over a few of the names, lots of "Sgt." "Col." "Ln." amongst them. She stopped at one. General Dietfried Kramer. Mara sucked in a breath.

"What is it?" Donny looked down at the tag she held.

"You killed this man? Dietfried Kramer?"

"Sure did. Why?"

She cleared her throat and dropped the tag, "Dietfried Kramer was the younger brother of The Beast of Belsen." Donny narrowed his eyes, and she clarified; "Josef Kramer, the...commandant of the camp I was held, Bergen-Belsen."

Donny grew sad but then felt a sort of pride in himself, "He said he worked in the camps—I beat him till his skull was as flat as a pancake."

Mara smiled slightly at Donny, "He got what he deserved...They were a cruel pair. Dietfried was Josef's right hand man. How troubled Josef must be without his brother to do his dirty work." Mara spoke with more spite than he expected from her.

"Dirty work?"

"Killed many Jews that Josef did not like, brought the especially hated ones to him so he could beat them to death...brought women to him...killed most the women after...even did some of the tattooing—did mine in fact."

Donny clinched his jaw and breathed heavily through his nose. If he had known who exactly Diefried Kramer was he would have made him suffer more. Then a thought forged itself into Donny's mind. He didn't want to ask if Mara had been one of the women that was brought to Josef, but the way she spoke with such disdain and sorrow Donny didn't have to ask. He would have felt incredibly invasive if he would have anyway so he kept silent.

He then started with an apology, "I'm sorry—"

"Does your nose hurt?" She asked, trying to see the bruise she'd left behind, interrupting him.

Donny watched her for a moment, "I've had worse..." He trailed off, wondering why she hadn't let him express his empathy with her, Donny didn't usually empathize with anyone. She nodded, leaning back. "You have one hell of an arm though."

"I know." She said, smirking. Donny smirked too, knowing full well she used it to her advantage every moment she got. Mara yawned, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm going for a walk." She stood.

Donny stood, pulling a gun from his belt and threw it to her.

"Don't be too long," She mumbled as she caught it, "and don't wander too far off." Mumbled again and Donny chuckled, standing and walking to the far edge of the small clearing and leaned against a tree, watching Mara hold the shot gun up on her shoulder as she looked up at the night sky. Donny sighed, still uncertain what to think of her just yet. But what he did know was that she was slowly redeeming herself in his mind far from his first impression of her. He still had a strange feeling, but he knew he would have to get over that soon. Aldo had taken a liking to her and they'd be spending the next two months with her amongst the Basterds, so Donny had to get used to her sooner rather than later.


	4. Chapter 4

_I hope you all realize it'd be ridiculous for me to claim that I actually own Inglourious Basterds. Also, enjoy this chapter! Please do tell me what you think, it does inspire me so._

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Between the hours of three and five there wasn't a single Basterd on look-out outside the tents. Mara sat perched on a log, tugging at the end of her wool cardigan. She'd sat there watching the fire dwindle to embers trying to keep her mind focused on what her mission was and what she needed to do in the process.

She poked at the embers with her gun and sighed, watching a bit of smoke smolder and embers die. They reminded her of the coals they used to heat the crematory rooms back in Bergen-Belsen and Mara had to close her eyes until she pictured stars in her eyelids to forget momentarily what had happened not two months ago.

Mara sniffed as she realized she'd begun to cry and immediately rubbed her face clean of all tears as she heard a rustling behind her. The sun had just begun to rise leaving the air around cast in a gentle orange light just bright enough to see Aldo stumble out from his tent with a blanket in his arms. He looked at her and nodded.

"Figured you'd be out 'ere." Aldo said, his voice gruff from his first words of the day. He draped the blanket around her and rubbed her shoulder a bit.

"I didn't sleep."

"Figured you didn'." Aldo said as he sat next to her. "We got 'bout thirty minutes before my men wake up and we leave for Périgueux."

"Okay..."

"In the meantime, I have a few questions for you, if'n you don't mind answerin' 'em." He said kindly, Mara nodded and he went on, "First things first, I need to know your full name, age, and previous occupation if you had one."

"My name is Mara Rothko, I am...twenty four, and I was an artist—or tried to be." Mara tried to shake off the fact that she'd almost forgotten how old she was, and she could tell that Aldo saw it too but chose to ignore it. She felt silly for saying she was an artist, she'd only had one exhibition and it was a complete flop. Mara considered herself a failure after that.

"All right then, next question..." Mara braced herself for the intruding question she knew he was about to ask. "How many Nazis have you personally killed?"

Mara looked up at him, confused. "Um...I'd say no less than two-hundred since I escaped."

Aldo's eyebrows shot up. "And when was that?"

"Five weeks ago."

"Weapons?"

"Shotgun mostly, a few knives, a bomb, an-and my hands once."

"Two-hun'red Nazis in five weeks," he mumbled, "...after escapin' from the work camps you killed more than two-hun'red Nazis in five weeks?"

"That is what I said." Aldo watched her unwavering gaze he held with her and smiled slightly.

He stuck out his hand and shook hers. Aldo completely believed her tale. He saw experience in her.

"When we found ya, how'd you get yourself into Nazi occupied France as a leader of that kraut squad?"

Mara sighed, "When I escaped it took me a couple weeks to gather my strength and a little bit of muscle mass was built with excessive eating, exercising, and padding in the right places. It was easy to weasel myself into the Third Reich. I just had to act like I belonged, like the men I spent everyday staring at with hatred while they starved and beat and antagonized me and everyone else. It was easy...After I was moved to captain status I was sent on location with a few new high ranked officers in Bordeaux. That was a week ago. Five days ago I'd planned on killing all three of them given the right opportunity, but you all showed up, did the job for me. Thank you for that."

Aldo nodded. "I'm impressed." Mara gave a small sarcastic smile and held the blanket tighter around her. "And I ain't impressed too often," he said. "Now that I know your full story, or at least the good bits, I've got one last question for you. Actually it's a bit more like an offer. If we still keep that deal 'bout takin' you to Germany d'you think you'd be able to spare an extra month or two, working with a US secret service guerrilla unit?"

Mara looked at him like he was crazy. But she thought about it, and figured she probably would have pitched in anyway, might as well be recognized for it. So she nodded.

"But—" she began, holding her hand up, "I do not owe you anything. I will help and I will be a part of the team but I will still be able to focus on my own agenda whilst accompanying you and the Basterds through this war."

Aldo eyed her and nodded, against his wishes but he had to make a peace. "All right then, I think I can accept that. And I'm gonna let you keep that agenda to yourself for now, but soon I'm gonna be askin' you 'bout it and if you think you can get away without answerin' by poutin' them pretty pink lips and flappin' them thick lashes, you gotta 'nother thing comin'."

Mara laughed, charmed by his words and feeling herself grow more comfortable around him.

"So. Do we have a deal Miss Rothko?" Aldo stuck out his hand.

"We have a deal, Lieutenant." She shook his hand and Aldo smiled brightly at the use of his title. He just keeps finding reasons to like her even more.

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The men had begun to slowly trickle out of their tents and soon they were all on their way to Périgueux. A few of the men had tried to talk to Mara as they walked but she was content in her silence at the front of the group. Donny walked behind her as close as he could without stomping over her just because he didn't like how far she was walking ahead. She noticed this but didn't say anything about it. She liked that he was still slightly suspicious of her. She felt he should be, they all should be.

After several hours of walking Aldo had everyone stop at a nice, secluded lake for a break. Mara sat down against a tree next to one of the men, Utivich. He smiled at her and asked her how she was.

Mara paused before answering, trying to remember which one he was. She recalled him being the only one willing to give her a smile prior to this morning. "I am fine. And you?"

"I'm good." He replied, watching Mara lazily run her fingers through her hair, snagging on knots and cringing. "Wait." He began to dig around his bag and smiled as he pulled out a sterling bristle brush. "You might have more use of this than I ever could."

Mara took it slowly and smiled slightly. "Thank you." She said as she brushed her hair, "Why do you have a woman's hairbrush in your possession?"

"I found it a month ago and was going to bring it back for my mother but..." Utivich stopped and looked down. "But she died a few weeks ago from the flu." Mara set the brush on her lap and put her hand gently over his, he looked at her and chuckled. "I don't know why I kept it though. Perhaps I was meant to give it to you."

Mara chuckled, "Well, thank you. It means a lot."

He nodded and stood after a moment to leave her to her thoughts. She watched all the men doing various things, talking, eating, writing, smoking all around a small fire. Mara saw all the men except for one who they had previously had to slow down, if only slightly, for.

Mara silently walked over to Hugo who sat on a log smoking a cigar with his foot elevated upon another log. He looked up at her when he noticed her walk up and looked back onto the lake.

"What do you want?"

"Ich bin traurig, dass ich auf dich geschossen. Ich wollte nicht, um tatsächlich erschießen. Ich wusste nicht, dass mein Ziel war so gut. Bitte akzeptieren Sie meine Entschuldigung, Hugo. Obwohl ich kann verstehen, wenn du nicht kannst." (I am sorry I shot you. I did not mean to actually shoot you. I didn't think my aim was that good. Please accept my apology, Hugo. Though I can understand if you cannot.) Hugo sighed and looked at her. He popped the cigar in his mouth and held his hand out, nodding for her to shake.

Mara shook his hand firmly.

"How can you speak German so well?" He asked in English.

"My parents and I lived in Berlin with my grandmother for a while before the war started." Hugo nodded, looking out onto the lake. "I sincerely hope you know that I did not mean any offense either when I yelled at you."

"No offense taken, Miss Mara." Mara smiled, glad that Hugo wasn't upset with her and also intrigued by the way he said her name. It was odd, the way Germans usually said her name it was with such disdain and disgust, but with Hugo it seemed to roll off his tongue, like it was natural.

"I think we're about to head off. Do you need any help?" He shook his head, finishing his cigar.

Mara nodded and made her way back to the men. She stopped next to Donny, picking up her bag. He watched her adjust the straps and narrowed his eyes at her as she looked up at him.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Um...If you do not mind, I would like to walk with you the little ways we still have until we reach the vehicles, is that all right?" His eyes widened slightly and he nodded.

"Yeah sure, just...don't make any sudden movements."

Mara chuckled as she started walking next to him.


	5. Chapter 5

_One month later_

There was a growing comfort amongst the men concerning Mara Rothko and even she had begun to grow comfortable with the Basterds fighting with them, talking with them, learning about their lives. She refrained from becoming too close to any of them, but Donny was the one that also seemed to ask her questions rather than answering hers. Mara found this irritating and often refused to answer if it meant telling him too much about her life before the camp. She felt that was all he needed to know since Aldo so sneakily told him when she specifically asked him not to. Bu thankfully she kept the secret from the rest of the Basterds, but she knew they suspected something, though none were willing to even ask. Mostly Mara was silent, but when faced with curiosity, it was hard to fight. And in some strange, obscure fashion Mara began to care about the men she fought amongst. She learned of their families, their passions, their sweethearts. All except Donny.

Mara and the Basterds raided several German squads daily and it was the most exhilarating thing Mara had ever experienced. The Basterds were impressed by the utter brutality she expressed against the Germans they faced, but Donny was more impressed by the amount of animosity she obviously coveted on their down time. He thought her extremely peculiar in these moments.

"You want somethin' to eat?" Donny asked Mara as she sat with her sketchbook, huddled in a wool blanket by one of the three fires they had going.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him.

"Food. Would you like some?"

"Oh. No thank you." She went back to drawing and Donny rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well," he sat next to her, "when I asked I was just being kind. You need to eat." He pushed the metal plate under her nose and she sighed, grabbing it and complying with his demands. "What cha drawin'?"

She closed her book and muttered, "Nothing."

"Mm—hmm..." Donny mumbled as he ate a spoonful of beans and watched her place the book in between them. He gently opened to a page as Mara ate slowly, watching the fire. But before he could see anything she grabbed the book and stuffed it in her coat. He smiled as she rolled her eyes.

"When are we leaving?" She asked as she pushed the beans around her plate, pretending to eat. Donny noticed this but didn't say anything. He cleared his throat.

"Aldo wants to head out tomorrow morning, says he has word of a small Nazi base in some factory outside of Poitiers." Mara nodded, setting her plate down and snuggling deeper into her blanket. She noticed Donny looking at her with sadness in his eyes. She hated when he did that, he did it often.

"What?"

Donny shook his head as he picked her plate up and looked at her once before getting up and walking back to Omar and Aldo, leaving her to sleep.

"She still not eatin'?" Aldo asked as Donny dumped the beans back into the pot.

"Nope." He sat next to Omar and looked at Aldo who shook his head.

"Well...she's gonna have to eat sometime, but we can't force her to." Aldo finished his plate and sighed, leaving to his tent for the night without another word.

"D'you think they poisoned her food?" Omar's question hung heavy in the air. Ever since Donny had let the beans spill to his closest mate Omar had relentlessly brought it up, confusion filling him just as it filled Donny himself. They both hoped soon that Mara would tell the rest of the Basterds herself what had happened.

"Ain't got a doubt in my mind they did..." Donny muttered. He decided it best not to think too much about it and go to bed.

* * *

After the raid in Poitiers

"Donny—Mara go scout the perimeter for any scragglers will ya?" Donny nodded as Mara sighed. She slipped her coat back on and she followed Donny out of the factory.

They end up finding and killing two within the first few minutes but Donny urged Mara to go out a little further, just in case.

Now about thirty minutes from the factory, Donny and Mara walked slowly when they suddenly heard the distant sound of leaves crunching under synchronized marching footfalls. They both looked at each other and then around them wildly before Donny's eyes widen. As Mara clutches her gun tight, ready to attack Donny grabbed her by the waist and clapped a hand over her mouth as he drug her behind a large tree trunk. Then around about twenty Nazi soldiers march through the woods not twenty feet from where they hid. They were headed for the factory they had just raided. But then they all stopped to take a small break.

Donny knew that Aldo had most likely gotten everyone out of the factory and back to the camp site so the other thing he was worried about was getting himself and Mara passed the camped out Nazis. It'd be suicide to try and attack all of them right there with only two people, a gun, and a bat. So they sat there, Donny's hand still over Mara's mouth as he held her as close to him and the tree as possible.

He looked at Mara and she was looking at him with a slightly frightened and panicked look in her eyes. He brought his hand from her mouth and she breathed out slowly, the cold creating a gentle cloud out of her shallow breath.

"What are we going to do, Donny?" She asked, looking around the tree quickly and spotting all the Nazis sitting not ten yards from them.

"The first thing we need to do is get out from behind this tree."

"How the hell are we going to do that? There's about twenty Nazis blocking the way back to camp. We can't just walk past them like frolickers in the woods caught by surprise."

Donny clinched his jaw knowing she was right.

"Then we're gonna to have to go around." He said quickly.

"What if we get lost?"

"We won't get lost, I'm good with directions." Mara looked at him unsure as he looked at her with a blank, but determined look.

"Okay. All right. Are we just going to make a dash for it?"

Donny shook his head. "No. We need to wait till it gets a bit darker, then we'll slowly ease ourselves North."

Mara nodded as she looked back once more. It looked as though they were setting up camp and started large fires to fight away the cold. He sighed as she looked back at Donny and pushed herself closer against him.


End file.
